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The Philippines took delivery of the first two South Korean-made FA-50 light fighter aircraft Saturday, marking the country's return to supersonic jet age almost a decade after it retired its last fighter jet, the Northrop made F-5 of the United States.

The two fighters, flown from Seoul by South Korean pilots, were met in Philippine airspace by two S211 jets that escorted them to Clark Airbase where they were formally received by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

Delivery for the squadron order will be completed in 2017. The Philippines bought 12 FA-50s, which are primarily trainer jets that was converted by the military to also serve as multi-role combat aircraft, from Korea Aerospace Industries at a cost $402 million.

Secretary Gazmin said the aircraft will serve as both trainers for the soon to be acquired multi-role fighters, and interim fighter role for the PAF.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday said his government seeks to work closely with the Philippine military.

According to Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., the Prime Minister said Russia also “seeks to open avenues for military and defense cooperation similar to their existing agreements with other states in the region.”

Among those considered is the participation of Russia to the future multi-role fighter (MRF) project by offering fourth generation fighter SU-30MK variant to the Philippine Air Force to which fellow Asean countries Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia are already operators. The jet is expected to compete with JAS 39 Gripen, F-16 and F-18 tenders.

Chile's Boeing 767-300ER estimated time of arrival in Manila changed several times Sunday, from 4 a.m., to 10 p.m. before it was set at noon. But her flight was slightly delayed and the Boeing 767 of Fuerza Aerea de Chile (Air Force of Chile) landed on the Naia runway at 1:24 p.m bringing Michelle Bachelet, the first woman president of Chile, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). She is the first head of state to arrive for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila.

Taipei

Second to arrived is the chartered Boeing 737-800 flight from Chinese Taipei landing NAIA at lunch time followed by another Boeing 737-800 of the Fuerza Aerea Columbiana carrying President Juan Miguel Santos.

Columbia

Papua New Guinea
The fourth to arrived today is the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea Peter O'Neil on board Dessault Falcon 900EX jet (P2-ANW) at 3:44pm. The fifth to arrived is the Chief Executive C Y Leung from Hong Kong on Board Cathay Pacific Boeing B777-300 plane.

Hong Kong

TUESDAY ARRIVALS
17 November 2015Vietnam
First to arrived Tuesday is Vietnam Airlines A321 VN1, transporting Socialist Republic of Vietnam President Troung Tan San

Mexico

United States of America
Barack Obama and Air Force One. SAM44, another B747-400 decoy landed an hour later.

The Russian Federation contingent consisted of Ilyushin Il-96 (RA-96020) a B737-700 chartered flight from Gaspromavia, and another Il-76 that brought the bullet-proof Mercedes limousine for Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and the 530-kilogramme bronze sculpture of a bear gift of the Russian Federation to the Philippines. The Bear sculpture was erected at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) grounds this morning. Russia is the second largest aircraft contingent next to the United States. Medvedev's flight is the last to arrived for the Russian group at 7am.

A Japanese navy official (L)
walks with members of the Philippine Navy after disembarking a P3-C
Orion surveillance aircraft at an airbase in Puerto Princesa City,
Palawan, on June 2. The Philippine Navy has been training with US and Japanese counterpart relative to operations of said plane.

By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo
Reuters

TOKYO — The Japanese and Philippine leaders will agree this week on a deal paving the way for Tokyo to supply Manila with used military equipment, possibly including aircraft that could be deployed to patrol the disputed South China Sea, sources said. (see our breaking story here)

The deal will mark the first time Japan has agreed to directly donate military equipment to another country, and is the latest example of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's more muscular security agenda.

The agreement in principle on military technology will be announced after Abe and President Benigno Aquino III meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila, said three sources in Tokyo who are familiar with the issue.

Abe and Aquino are due to meet on Wednesday (November 18).

It will commit Tokyo and Manila to discuss the type and scale of Japanese military aid, added the sources, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

A Tokyo-based spokesman for the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which according to sources has been handling the agreement, said he had no information on the matter.

The Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment, while Philippine military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

To allow Japan's first direct donation of military equipment, Japanese lawmakers will either have to tweak financial regulations that require officials to sell second-hand government-owned equipment at fair market value, or establish a financing mechanism outside overseas development aid, which can't be used for military purposes.

Japan's upper chamber of parliament early Saturday gave final approval
to a set of controversial bills allowing the country's military to
engage in overseas combat assignments — under certain circumstances —
for the first time since World War II. The lower chamber approved the
bills in July.

In June, Abe and Aquino agreed to begin talks on a visiting forces agreement that would open the way for Japan to use bases in the Philippines to refuel aircraft and resupply naval vessels.(Redacted)

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has officially announced the engine of choice to power a fleet of 15 new generation Airbus A321NEO slated for delivery starting 2017. (see our earlier unconfirmed reports here)

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Welcome to our blog. The Philippine aviation scene has plenty of surprises in store. We are trying to chronicle the relevant events from orbital satellites to human powered flights and all in between as we possibly could. We are also trying desperately hard to be accurate and factual as far as possible. Humans as we are we do sometimes err. Our apologies for trying to let you know to the best of our knowledge which sometimes fell short. We however value your time reading it and please do contact us for some corrections. Our heartfelt thanks for dropping by.

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